Governor, panel weigh in on Affordable Care Act

On Thursday, members of Montana Bipartisan Healthcare Working Group, led by state Auditor Matthew Rosendale and made up of lawmakers, insurance and health care professionals met to discuss the latest developments in the ACA.

“Obamacare is in a death spiral and reform would have been necessary no matter who won the 2016 elections,” he told the group. “The numbers are grim.”

He called on Congress to provide flexibility for state-specific solutions and “to use a carrot to promote more participation, not a stick.”

Rosendale said he envisioned “a true marketplace for health care that empowers Montanans with control over their health care spending, lowers the cost of care, improves access and offers countless options to meet personal health care needs.”

He said he would like to see block grants for Medicaid that would empower states to develop plans.

In his March 1 letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn, Rosendale said the direction he offered supersedes a December letter from then-state Auditor Monica Lindeen. Alexander had solicited states for how to stabilize the health insurance market.